Follow Friday: @DanaRohrabacher

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) likes to mix it up with his followers.

Rohrabacher stands out among members of Congress, who tend to use their Twitter accounts as a passive way to transmit information and soak up constituents’ responses.

Rohrabacher is known for interacting with his followers, sometimes in late-night tweet-offs. He often responds to both anonymous followers and those who are better known, such as conservative commentator Michelle Malkin.

Rohrabacher told The Hill that he sees Twitter as a way to get around the middleman in his communication with constituents.

A: I was reluctant to join, but my wife, Rhonda, convinced me to join. She convinced me I could instantly communicate with a large number of constituents, thus countering media bias.

Q: What do you see as the most significant purpose of Twitter for you?

A: It gives me the opportunity to promote ideas and correct people on where I really stand on issues instantly.

I'll visit my Twitter page a few times a day; if I see something interesting, I'll jump in. And if I don't, I won't. When you're a member of Congress your whole identity is as such, so there's really no difference between the personal vs. policy tweets. Once you tweet it, it's in the public domain.

Q: Example of a "best" Twitter moment?

A: Correcting about 25 tweeters in one shot. I chastised them for using vulgarity on my timeline to attack me but not describing specific areas of disagreement.

Q: Example of a "worst" Twitter moment?

A: Sometimes I'll tweet in a hurry and make spelling errors. For example, I misspelled 'Taliban' once, which is quite a faux pas for a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee!

Follow Rohrabacher @DanaRohrabacher, where he currently has 6,356 followers.


Past “Follow Friday” Twitter profiles have included Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Mike Honda (Calif.), Jim Himes (Conn.) and Rush Holt (N.J.), and Republican Reps. Bob Latta (Ohio), Glenn Thompson (Pa.), John Shimkus (Ill.) and David Schweikert (Ariz.).